The price of regeneration

Who pays for regeneration and who benefits?

One of the undisputable upsides to regeneration is the number of ‘new’ community
facilities like the ‘new’
library at Canada Water
and ‘new’ leisure
centre
at Elephant and Castle. However, what is easily forgotten is that old libraries
and leisure centres were demolished and sold off to make way for the new ones.

What is also forgotten is the cost of these new facilities and who pays for them.
Southwark likes to claim that the new facilities are funded by financial contributions from developers, but the reality is that this funding represents just a fraction of the cost of the new facilities. The ‘Castle’ leisure centre at the Elephant cost nearly £30m to build, towards which regeneration partner Lend Lease is contributing just £3.5m - in fact the Council agreed this payment in-lieu of Lend Lease’s ‘One the Elephant’ development providing any affordable housing. The new Canada Water library cost £14m to build which was entirely Council funded - no contribution from developers whatsoever.

The new library and health centre to be built on the redeveloped Aylesbury estate are direct replacements for the existing medical centre which is being demolished and the East St library and Wells Way library which are being closed. Furthermore, the new library and health centre is being entirely funded by Southwark Council. Its development partners Notting Hill and Barratt Homes are not making any contribution towards them at all.

Likewise, the new Camberwell library is a replacement of the one that was closed down in 2015 and has been funded exclusively by the Council.

Former Camberwell library (left), new Camberwell library (right)

Selling Southwark’s adult care services

The Council’s budget for regeneration is one of its largest outgoings. This year it is spending £23m on the Aylesbury estate regeneration alone. Meanwhile, the Council is making drastic cuts to other services and frantically selling off premises used by them.

For example, the Council has cut a staggering £39m from the current year’s budget for education and adult care services alone. Here are some of the adult services buildings that have been, or are being sold off or closed down by the Council’s current (Labour) administration:

It is not just adult services that are being subject to ‘modernisation’. Southwark has sold off both Bermondsey and Peckham Town Halls; Harper Rd Social Services Centre; Castle Day Centre; Whitstable Day Nursery; Abbey St Children’s Home; Willowbrook Community Centre and the Wansey St Homeless Hostel: